Auburn

Auburn suspended assistant coach Robbie Laing and declared two basketball players ineligible yesterday amid questions about possible NCAA rules violations. Chris Davis and Moochie Norris were dropped from the team after athletic director David Housel said Laing admitted crossing the line with regard to improper benefits, including transportation, housing and tutorial services. The possible violations were discovered while the school probed questions about junior college credits the players obtained while gaining eligibility to Auburn.

TYRESE TANNER scored 18 points to lead four players in double figures as Auburn topped visiting Temple, 71-49, in a women's game Sunday. Victoria Macaulay scored 18 points and Tyonna Williams added 12 for the Owls (5-4), who shot 4-for-21 from the the arc. Hasina Muhammad added 16 for the Tigers (8-2). * Jennifer George had 19 points and 11 rebounds to lead visiting Florida to a 74-50 victory over La Salle. Shanel Harrison scored 15 points and Brittany Wilson added 14 for the Explorers (1-9)

Second-ranked Auburn purged some painful memories last night in the semifinals of the NCAA women's basketball tournament. Coach Joe Ciampi's team, which trailed by 59-51 with 9 minutes, 53 seconds to play, went ahead in the last two minutes and ousted defending champion Louisiana Tech, 76-71. At 4 p.m. tomorrow (Channel 10), the Tigers (32-1) will meet top-ranked Tennessee, which eliminated No. 5 Maryland, 77-65, last night. For the first time, the championship game will feature two teams from the same conference - in this case, the Southeastern.

Charles Barkley yesterday said that race played a role in Auburn's hiring of Gene Chizik as football coach. "I believe race had a factor. Of course I do," said Barkley, who starred at Auburn before joining the 76ers in 1983. "I look at things from a common-sense standpoint, how do you interview Turner Gill and pick Gene Chizik over Turner Gill?" Athletic director Jay Jacobs denied race was a factor, saying he picked "the best fit for Auburn. " Chizik went 5-19 in two seasons at Iowa State after turns as defensive coordinator at Auburn and Texas.

Steve Alford scored 31 points and backcourt partner Keith Smart added 20 points and 15 assists as Indiana rallied from a 14-point deficit to beat Auburn, 107-90, in an NCAA Midwest Region second-round game yesterday in Indianapolis. Forward Daryl Thomas added 27 points for the Hoosiers, who finished with their highest point total in four years. Alford, a two-time all American, was held scoreless for the first 10 minutes but went on to hit seven three-point goals, including five in the second half.

Alabama coach David Hobbs looked at the stat sheet and saw plenty to grimace at: His team was soundly beaten on the boards, didn't shoot especially well and committed too many turnovers. But this was not a night to be picky. The 20th-ranked Crimson Tide survived a final flurry by visiting Auburn last night, beating the Tigers, 65-63, when the officials ruled a tying basket came after the final buzzer. "Somebody suggested to me that this was not a pretty win," Hobbs said.

Kenny Irons ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns and No. 2 Auburn knocked away a last-chance pass to keep its unbeaten season alive with a 24-17 victory over host South Carolina last night. The Tigers (5-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) held the ball the entire third quarter. South Carolina (3-2, 1-2) drove to the Tigers' 6 in the final minute. However, on fourth down, South Carolina quarterback Syvelle Newton's floater to Sidney Rice was batted away by Patrick Lee with 19 seconds left.

If you want to know the truth - and the truth is why we are gathered here today, isn't it? - Auburn has about as much chance of surviving against Louisville as a lamb chop at a fat man's convention. Even Sonny Smith, the coach of the unranked, underdog Tigers, likes to toy with the idea of being a two-legged hors d'oeuvre. "Boy, they're quick as a hiccup," Smith says when he surveys the talent on Louisville's roster. "They can run and jump and shoot and get after you on defense.

Auburn basketball coach Cliff Ellis was fired yesterday after 10 seasons with the Tigers, who were shut out of postseason play for the second time in three years. Ellis had five years remaining on his contract after it was automatically extended by two years for last season's tournament run. Under his contract, Auburn owes him $750,000. In February, Auburn appeared before the NCAA over allegations of recruiting violations, although Ellis was not named in the accusations. The Tigers finished 14-14 overall and 5-11 in the Southeastern Conference.

IN THE PRESEASON polls, Auburn received no votes. Then again, neither did Missouri. Auburn went 14-0 in 2010. That was followed by 8-5 and 3-9 (0-8 SEC). Which meant Gene Chizik was gone, after 4 years. And Gus Malzahn, the offensive coordinator on the national-title team, was brought back from Arkansas State (9-3 in one season) to succeed his former boss. Now the Tigers are 8-1, ranked seventh (9-1 Missouri is ninth). This week they host No. 25 Georgia. On Nov. 30, following a bye, they'll host Alabama.

Auburn football player Jakell Lenard Mitchell was fatally shot early Sunday at an apartment complex in Auburn, Ala., where two former football players and another person were shot and killed in 2012. Police answered a call at about 12:25 a.m. of shots fired at the Tiger Lodge apartment complex, a few miles from the campus. Mitchell, an 18-year-old freshman, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead. Auburn coach Gus Malzahn said he was "devastated and saddened" by the death of the promising player, a halfback.

OVER THE WEEKEND I listened to a a trio of panelists that I respect have a discussion on whether the SEC is overrated. They seemed to concur that it just might be. Allow me to retort. The SEC won seven of the last eight BCS titles for a reason. Auburn came within a last-minute drive against a supposedly unbeatable Florida State team of making it eight in a row last January. Obviously, the four different SEC teams that were responsible for making that happen were only able to do it because of unwarranted bias from the poll voters and computers.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL'S new playoff era finally arrived last night. You could tell, because ESPN treated it almost like the Vatican was naming a Pope. As if we expected anything less. So for starters, what did we learn from the replacement for those much-maligned BCS Standings? Well, the 12-person Selection Committee, which on Dec. 7 will tell America the four teams that will be in the inaugural FBS tournament, had Mississippi State and Florida State first and second. No shock there, since the only two remaining unbeatens from one of the Power Five conferences are rated that way in both the media (Associated Press)

AS WE REACH the midway point of the first FBS season with a playoff, the top of the rankings are where they were on Jan. 6: Florida State is first and Auburn is No. 2. But can they remain there? Or at least do enough to get in the inaugural Final Four? The Seminoles host Notre Dame next week and go to Louisville on Oct. 30. They're at Miami on Nov. 15 and host Florida two weeks later, not that either of those rivals are what they were. Then there's the ACC title game in Charlotte against, most likely, Virginia, Georgia Tech or Virginia Tech.

IT COULD ALREADY be too late for South Carolina to save its season, at least if you're talking about maybe still getting into the inaugural four-team playoff. But one of the best perks about playing in the SEC is you're never that far away from being in yet another spot where you can make an impression. In a week otherwise devoid of marquee matchups, sixth-ranked Georgia is at No. 24 South Carolina, which was ninth before it opened with a 52-28 home loss to a Texas A & M team without Johnny Football that has risen in the poll from 21 to 7. Anyway, the Dawgs have lost their last two in Columbia.

Barbara Lane Crowell, 52, a former Upper Dublin resident, died Thursday, July 3, in a bicycle accident near her home in Auburn, Calif. Police said Mrs. Crowell was struck from behind by a pickup truck at 6:40 a.m. as she rode her bike along Foresthill Road in Placer County. She was pronounced dead by paramedics at the accident scene. California Highway Patrol officers identified the pickup's driver as David Correa, 37, of Foresthill. Correa, who stopped and called 911, was arrested by police.

EVEN THOUGH the college football season - and, of course, the return of Fraud Five - is still a little over 3 months away, is it ever too early to tackle those nagging offseason questions? 1 Can Florida State's Jameis Winston win another Heisman Trophy and/or national title before heading off to the NFL as the top pick in next year's draft? It might depend on whether he gets a hankering for any more free soda at Burger King to go with the crab legs and crawfish at Publix.

WHEN BRUCE PEARL was at La Salle five summers ago preparing his Maccabi USA team for what would become a gold-medal effort in Israel, Harris Adler was right by his side as a trusted assistant. So, it was no shock when it was announced yesterday that Adler, who has been with John Giannini as an assistant for his entire decadelong tenure as an aide, was named to fill out Pearl's new staff at Auburn. "Harris and I have won gold together," Pearl said in a statement. "I believe he has an eye for talent . . . As Dr. John Giannini's assistant coach, Harris worked in all areas, making him, in my mind, the best fit for our staff here at Auburn.

JADEVEON CLOWNEY, the talented defensive end from South Carolina, is projected to be the top pick in the NFL draft. That would be a mistake, according to Dee Ford, who played the same position at Auburn last season. "I'm better," Ford told SiriusXM radio yesterday. "Let's put it like this. People like to talk about size all the time. Size is pretty much overrated in my eyes. " That may be so, but Clowney is 6-5, 266-pounds and listed No. 1 overall by Scouts Inc. Ford is 6-2, 240 and projected at No. 37. "You can look at guys like Robert Mathis, Elvis Dumervil, Von Miller.

WHAT CONTROVERSY? As it has so many times during its much-maligned 16-year run, the BCS managed to sort things out over the closing month of the regular season and, finally, on championship weekend. One by one, all but one of the major unbeatens fell out out of the national-title chase. First it was Baylor, then Alabama. And Saturday night in the Big Ten title game in Indianapolis, Ohio State removed whatever gray area remained by losing to Michigan State. Which meant America no longer had to debate whether a one-loss SEC champion should get in over an unbeaten Big Ten champ that had played a more user-friendly schedule.